Another suit filed against Kansai Electric

FUKUI, Japan, Nov. 30 (Kyodo) — A group of 154 people in Fukui and other prefectures filed on Friday a lawsuit seeking suspension of the Oi nuclear power plant, contending Kansai Electric Power Co. resumed the operation of two reactors there while their safety has yet to be guaranteed.

The complaint filed with the Fukui District Court said the Fukushima Daiichi disaster last year had demonstrated the "totally unacceptable risks of nuclear power plants."

The move came a day after a group of around 1,100 people in 17 prefectures filed a similar complaint seeking stoppage of the Oi plant against the power company and the central government.

The 154 plaintiffs from 19 prefectures argued that the nuclear plant should be halted immediately instead of continuing fault surveys while keeping it in operation.

They pointed out that experts are still divided on whether faults believed to be running underneath the Oi plant are active or not.

The plaintiffs claimed there is a strong possibility of the fault being an active one, making the plant prone to a serious accident in case of a major earthquake.

They also said the Fukushima disaster triggered by last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami had shown the inadequateness of the conventional safety standards and that any approval of nuclear plant operation based on those standards is now invalid.

The Oi plant located in Fukui Prefecture, western Japan, resumed operation of two of its four reactors in July after all of the country's reactors went offline amid strong public concern over the nuclear safety in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

The complaint said the prospect of power shortage, a reason cited in the resumption of the two reactors at the Oi plant, had proved wrong as power supply would have been sufficient in July and August without the resumption.

Fukui Prefecture hosts 14 nuclear reactors, the largest number in Japan.